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Rapid Reaction: Texas A&M pulls away from Alcorn State in NIT first round

Keith Farner

By Keith Farner

Published:

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Texas A&M returned to the court on Tuesday following its sensational run to the SEC Championship game as the Aggies won 3 games in 3 days before they fell to Tennessee.

In a tightly-played game, Texas A&M outlasted Alcorn State 74-62 in the first round of the NIT before a solid turnout at Reed Arena thanks to free admission. It was the Aggies eighth appearance all-time in the NIT and first since 2015. Alcorn State went on an 8-0 run in the closing minutes to make things interesting, but that momentum went away when Alcorn State coach Landon Bussie received back-to-back technical fouls and was ejected.

Tyrece Radford led 4 Aggies in double figures with 14 points.

The Aggies made their living at the foul line where they made 26-of-28, while the Braves managed just 5-of-9.

After Alcorn State controlled the early part of the game, the Aggies used a 7-0 run to close the first half until Alcorn State banked in a 3-pointer for a tie game at halftime. The Aggies then made a 10-0 run early in the second half to begin to pull away as the Braves wore down.

Texas A&M will advance to play Oregon, which knocked off Utah State on Tuesday.

The Aggies, who quickly moved on from the NCAA Tournament snub, and their resume, which included 4 Quadrant I wins, and also had a 5-2 record against Quadrant III opponents, including bad losses to South Carolina and Missouri. The hot week in Tampa, Florida did not completely mask the rollercoaster of a season, that will now extend at least one more game.

Alcorn State came into the NIT with a 17-16 record and earned an automatic bid after it won the Southwestern Athletic Conference regular season title.

Keith Farner

A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.

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